Articulating Mount

ABSTRACT

An articulating mount has a hollow support arm with a compression spring inside of it. The spring is on a threaded rod and held at one end by a nut. At the other end, the spring rests against a washer. The washer rests against an indentation in the tube. One end of the threaded rod is connected via rotation links to an adjustment cross inside a housing. The housing has a threaded captive adjustment screw that is attached to both the housing by way of an adjustment pin and to the adjustment cross by its external threading. The housing is secured to a steel support body.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationSer. No. 61/231,496 filed on Aug. 5, 2009, which is hereby incorporatedby reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates generally to load support systems. In particular,the invention relates to articulating mounts, such as those inhealthcare support systems.

BACKGROUND

An articulating mount has a spring in compression, inside an armattached to a point of rotation. It functions to counter balance theweight of an apparatus mounted to it and allow the user to comfortablyraise and lower the mounted apparatus as desired and have it remain inthe same position without the need to perform any additional steps tokeep the articulated mount from moving. Articulating mounts can bedescribed as light weight, medium duty or heavy duty depending upon themaximum weight limit that it is able to support.

Articulating mounts are commonly used to support medical apparatuses inhospitals, medical offices, nursing homes, long term care, and otherhealthcare facilities and environments. Common medical apparatusesinclude, but are not limited to, sensors, lights, flat screen monitors,x-ray projections systems and cameras.

Of course, articulating mounts are also used in other industries besidesthe healthcare industry, including for example, hair salons, spas,retail fixtures, information technology, etc. The mounted apparatusescan include hair dryers, televisions, computers, retail product displaysand samples, commercial presentation material, etc.

Previous articulating mounts for medical apparatuses are bulky, costlyas well as labor intensive in their assembly. Many articulating mountsalso have arms which are off-set, such as those in U.S. Pat. No.6,261,023. Their functionality is also reduced due to their complexity,multitude of parts, and decreased reliability. In particular, thearticulating mounts of many healthcare support systems are moved quiteoften and may unacceptably fail when rotating components in the mountbecome worn. When an articulating mount fails, the supported apparatusmay suddenly or unexpectedly drop, causing damage to the apparatus andpotential harm to a patient depending on the functions performed by theapparatus.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The preferred embodiments of the invention include an articulating mountfor apparatuses, particularly, but not limited to, supporting medicalapparatuses, that have improved functionality, improved assembly, fewerparts and better reliability, thereby reducing the overall cost andimproving performance.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding and appreciation of the preferredembodiments of the invention, and its many advantages, reference will bemade to the following detailed description of the preferred embodimentstaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a floor support stand with anarticulating mount according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 1B is a side view of the floor support stand in FIG. 1.

FIG. 1C is a perspective view of the base assembly in the floor supportstand of FIG. 1.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a ceiling support system with an articulatingmount according to the preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a side view of a wall support system with an articulatingmount according to the preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a disassembled spring pin assembly in thepreferred embodiment of the articulating mount.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the spring pin assembly and spring washer inthe preferred embodiment of the articulating mount.

FIG. 6 is a diagram depicting a partial view of the body assembly in thepreferred embodiment of the articulating mount.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an exploded view of the body assemblyin the preferred embodiment of the articulating mount.

FIG. 8 is an exploded view of the spring assembly in the preferredembodiment of the articulating mount.

FIG. 9 is a cross-section side view of the tubular arm and itscomponents in the preferred embodiment of the articulating mount.

FIG. 10 is an exploded view showing the attachment of the arm and thespring assembly to the body assembly in the preferred embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 11 is an exploded view showing the final assembly of thearticulating mount according to the preferred embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 12 is a front perspective view of the complete articulating mountaccording to the preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 13 is a cross-section side view of the complete articulating mountaccording to the preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 14 is a rear perspective view of the complete articulating mountaccording to the preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 15 is a side view of the housing in the complete articulating mountaccording to the preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 16 is a cross-section side view of the body assembly and itscomponents in the complete articulating mount according to the preferredembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 17 is a cross-section front view through the center shaft of thearticulating mount according to the preferred embodiment of theinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to the drawings, some of the reference numerals are used todesignate the same or corresponding parts through several of thepreferred embodiments and figures shown and described. Variations ofcorresponding parts in form or function that are depicted in the figuresare described. It will be understood that variations in the preferredembodiments can generally be interchanged without deviating from theinvention.

The preferred embodiments of the invention may take form in variouscomponents and arrangements of components, and in various steps andarrangements of steps. The drawings are only for the purposes ofillustrating a preferred embodiment and are not to be construed aslimiting the invention.

The first preferred embodiment of the invention is the floor supportstand 100 shown in FIGS. 1A-1C. The floor support stand consists of fourrolling wheels 111-114 supporting a base 120. A base cover 130 isattached to sunken central portion 122 of base 120 and encloses atransformer, fuses and other electronics used to provide power to theapparatus supported by floor support stand 100. (For simplification, thedrawings do not show the power supply cord and wires used to provideelectricity to the apparatus supported by the floor support stand 100.)A post 140 passes through base cover 130 and is attached to centralportion 122 of base member 120. A handle 150 is secured to the post,preferably at a height that facilitates movement of the floor supportstand 100 by personnel. Post 140 may be curved as shown in FIGS. 1A and1B, may be curved in some other manner or may be straight. Althoughthree post sections are shown in FIG. 1A, post 130 may have any numberof post sections. A support 160 at the top of post 140 supports anarticulating mount 170 which permits support arm 180 to be rotated inthe vertical direction and stay in a chosen position. The support armmay be straight as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B or it may be curved or bent.The articulating mount 150 is preferably concealed by one or moreplastic covers.

FIG. 1C shows further details of the base member 120 and base cover 130.Base member 120 is preferably attached to the upper portions of therolling wheels 111-114 by base supports 121, and has a central portion122 that is sunken relative to the base supports 121. At least a part ofthe sunken central portion 122 is lower than the upper portions of therolling wheels 111-114 to aid against accidental tipping of the floorsupport stand 100. Central portion 122 includes a post attachment bar123 for attaching post 130 to base member 120. A push button switch 124protrudes through a hole in the top of base cover 130 and acts to turnon (and off) power to the apparatus through wires fed through theinterior of post 130. The lower side of the upper surface of base cover130 may include protruding tabs to ensure proper orientation of theswitch 124.

A ceiling mounted embodiment 200 and a wall mounted embodiment 300 areshown in FIGS. 2 and 3, respectively. Ceiling mount 200 includes amounting base (with cover) 210, retaining an extension arm 220 extendingfrom mounting base 210. Similarly, wall mount 300 includes a mountingbase (with cover) 310, retaining an extension arm 320 extending frommounting base 310. The extension arms 220, 320 may be stationary orpivoting. An articulating mount 230, 330 connects the extension arm 220,320 to post sections 240, 340. Two further articulating mounts connectthe post section to a support arm 250, 350. Although FIGS. 2 and 3 showparticular ceiling mounted and wall mounted embodiments, differentconfigurations may be employed as well.

The articulating mount will now be described with reference to FIGS.4-17. The spring assembly in the support arm is illustrated in FIG. 8.The threaded rod 6 has a notched end 7 whose outer circumference islarger than the outer circumferences of the remainder of the threadedrod 6. The notched end 7 may be integrally formed with threaded rod 6 ormay be a linkage bracket welded to threaded rod 6. In either case, thenotched end has a rectangular notch 7-1 with two opposing spring pinholes 7-2. Compression spring 2 has an inner circumference which isslightly greater than the outer circumference of the threaded rod 6 andsurrounds threaded rod 6.

One end of compression spring 2 abuts either the notched end 6-1 ofthreaded rod 6 or an indentation in the support arm 180. The compressionspring 2 is separated from the indentation or notched end 6-1 by anoblong washer 4. Preferably, a spring bushing 4-1, a spring clamp ring4-2 and a first spring end bushing 3 are further interposed between theoblong washer 4 and the compression spring 2. The flat side of thespring bushing 4-1 is flush with the oblong washer 4 and its shoulder ispointing away from the oblong washer 4. The spring clamp ring 4-2preferably has a tapered hole, and the large end of the taper faces theoblong washer 4. The spring end bushing 3 has a flat side facing thespring clamp ring 4-2 and the other side is fitted to the compressionspring 2.

The other end of the compression spring 2 opposite the notched end 6-1is held in place by a threaded rod nut 5 on the end of the threaded rod6. A second spring end bushing 3 is preferably between the compressionspring 2 and the rod nut 5 with its flat side facing rod nut 5 and theother side fitted to compression spring 2. The rod nut 5 can be handtight or tightened so that the compression spring 2 is compressed to aspecific length.

FIG. 4 shows the unassembled pieces which connect the notched end 7 ofthreaded rod 6 in the support arm 180 to the articulating mount 170according to a preferred embodiment of the articulating mount. Tworotation links 9 separated by a link spacer 10 are located in therectangular notch 7-1 so as to pivot freely. Each one of the rotationlinks 9 has a hole at each of its end. A coiled spring pin 8 through thelink spacer and two spring pin holes 7-3 in the notched end of thethreaded rod 7 and two pin bushings outside the notched end 7 secure therotation links 9 to the notched end 7 of the threaded rod 6. Preferably,the rotation links have a pointing chevron (or other kind of kink)rather than being straight or uniformly curved.

The oblong washer 4 has an inner circumference so that it fits aroundthe remainder of the threaded rod 6 but abuts against the largerdiameter of the notched end 7 or an indentation inside the hollowsupport arm 180. The oblong washer 4 is orientated as illustrated inFIG. 5 so that the flat sides are parallel with the spring pin holes 7-3and the chamfer is facing away from the arms of the notched end 7. Thespring bushing 4-1, and the flats on the first and second spring endbushings 3, have the same orientation as the oblong washer 4.

The threaded rod 6 may be hollow to allow a cable or tube to go throughit. This cable or tube is then routed through the notched end 7 from thesame side of support arm 180 where the chevrons of the rotation links 9are pointing up, after which it is routed through a steel cable bushing24 which can slide in a slot in the articulating mount 170. This steelcable bushing 24 is used to protect the cable or tube from wear due tothe rubbing in the articulating mount. The cable or tube then routesinto the second arm or mount 160 through a hole in the base of thesecond arm or mount 160, to the base 120 of floor stand 100 or the mount210/310 of the ceiling or wall embodiments.

The components are located inside hollow support arm 180 as shown inFIGS. 9 and 13. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the componentsinside the support arm 180. FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view showingthe connection of the components inside support 180 to a main body inthe articulating mount 170, as described in further detail below.

A preferred embodiment of the main body 1 is illustrated in FIGS. 6 and7. The body is adjusted by a load adjustment piece, which in theillustrated preferred embodiment is an adjustment cross piece 11.However, in other preferred embodiments, the load adjustment piece neednot be a load adjustment cross and can be a different piece, such asload adjustment T-shaped piece. The main body 1 and adjustment crosspiece 11 have holes that line up in the horizontal and verticaldirections. Main body 1 and adjustment cross piece 11 accommodate a loadadjustment screw 14 having a screw groove. The load adjustment screw 14is threaded in until its screw groove exactly aligns with the hole wherethe dowel pin 15 goes in.

The load adjustment cross 11 is held inside the aluminum housing 13 by aload adjustment screw 14 which is held inside the aluminum housing 13via a thru hole and dowel pin 15. The load adjustment screw 14 has agroove in it that allows it to only rotate but not move in any otherdirection once the dowel pin 15 has been inserted. The adjustment of theload by this positioning of screw 14 and dowel pin 15 allows for smallchanges in tension due to a varied load and/or loss of tension incompression spring 2 over time.

FIG. 10 is an exploded view showing the attachment of the notched end 7,support arm 180 and main body 1 according to the preferred embodiment ofthe articulating mount. One end of support arm 180 is squared-off andthe other end with rotation links 9 is cut out with two flanges. Thecutouts at the top and bottom to allow the rotation links 9 an increasedrange of motion. The flanges of the cut-out end have opposing alignedholes as shown so that support arm 180 is attached to the main body 1 byshaft and nut 16. The chevrons in the rotation links 9 should be facingdownwards toward the large cut out.

Preferably, support arm 180 is configured so that the threaded rod 6,notched end 7 and compression spring 2 are put into the squared-off endof, and passed through, the support arm as shown in FIG. 10 so that therotation links are exposed at the cut-out end of the support arm.Alternatively, the spring arm assembly can be put into the cut-out endof the support arm. In such an embodiment, the support arm preferablyhas two inwardly extending indentations or notches that areperpendicular to the lengthwise direction of the support arm on part ofthe circumference of the support arm. The notches are positioned andsized so as to interact with the spring end bushings and the oblongspring washer on the spring arm assembly. Specifically, the spring armassembly is inserted into the support arm at such an angle that the flatportion of the oblong spring washer 4 lines up with the notches and thespring 2 and other components pass the notches. Once the oblong springwasher 4 is past the notches, then the compression 2 and othercomponents in the assembly are rotated 90 degrees. The notches then holdthe components in place at a position so that the rotation links 9 areappropriately exposed at the cut-out end of the support arm 180.

FIG. 11 shows the attachment of support arm 180 and main body into thearticulating mount 170. The threaded rod 6, notched end 7 andcompression spring 2 fit into the squared-off end of the support arm 180such that the second ends of rotation links 9 are exposed at the cut-offend of the support arm. The second ends of rotation links 9 are attachedto the load adjustment cross 11 using a rotation pin 12. The rotationlinks 9 and the adjustment cross piece 11 of the main body 1 areconfigured so that the two holes in the rotation links 9 are in linewith the hole in the adjustment cross piece 11 of the main body 1. Thelink pivot pin 15 secures the rotation links 9 to the main body 1. FIG.6 is a close up of main body 1 showing the hole in the main body for thelink pivot pin 15. As shown in FIGS. 11 and 15, articulating mount 170is attached to support body 160 by retainer ring washer 161, retainerring 162, lock washer 163 and screw 164.

FIGS. 12 and 14-17 show the completed articulating mount 170. Supportarm 180 also has a slotted hole in it to allow for the press fit of tworotation bushings 17. The slotted hole in the support arm 180 and theoblong design of the rotation bushings 17 cause the bushings to remainin place and not rotate during operation. This in turn preventsexcessive wear on the bushings and increases reliability of thearticulating mount.

A housing 13 is held securely in place inside the articulating mount 170by means of three socket head cap screws 19 and lock nuts 20. Thearticulating mount is preferably composed of steel, but may also becomposed of other materials. A hole in the center of articulating mount170 accepts the shaft 16 for support arm 160 which is held in place byretaining rings 21. The shaft is preferably composed of steel, but mayalso be composed of other materials. On one side, the center hole has aunique cut in it to keep the shaft 16 from rotating during use. Asupport body allowing attachment to a second arm or mount 160 is off-setfrom the center of the articulating mount 170 to allow for increasedrange of motion and is preferably a steel part welded to articulatingmount 170.

This invention has been described and illustrated with reference toseveral preferred embodiments. The preferred embodiments are not limitedin their application and may be utilized for articulating mounts, floorstands and mounted support systems that are either light weight, mediumduty, or heavy duty. While the foregoing preferred embodiments of theinvention have been described and illustrated in some detail forpurposes of clarity and understanding, it will be appreciated by oneskilled in the art, from a reading of the disclosure that variouschanges in form and detail can be made upon reading and understandingthe preceding specification and the drawings without departing from thescope of the invention. It is intended that the invention be construedas including all such changes insofar as they come within the scope ofthe appended claims or the equivalents of these claims.

1. An articulating mount, comprising: a support body; a housing securedto the support body; a hollow support arm, one end of the hollow supportarm being pivotally connected to a pivot inside the housing; anadjustment piece inside the housing; a threaded captive adjustment screwthat is attached to the housing by way of an adjustment pin and to theadjustment piece by its external threading; a threaded rod in the hollowsupport arm, one end of the threaded rod being connected to theadjustment piece via rotation links; and a compression spring on thethreaded rod, a first end of the compression spring being held by a nuton the threaded rod.
 2. The articulating mount recited in claim 1,wherein the hollow support arm has an indentation on the inner surfacethereof and a second end of the compression spring rests against aspring washer held in place by the indentation.
 3. The articulatingmount as recited in claim 2, wherein the indentation extends over only apart of the circumference of the inner surface.
 4. The articulatingmount as recited in claim 1, further comprising a substantially flatoblong shaped bushing.
 5. The articulating mount as recited in claim 1,wherein said hollow support arm has a square rectangular, oblong orelliptical cross-section.
 6. A load support system, comprising: a basemember supported by a plurality of wheels; a vertical post attached tosaid base member; a handle connected to said vertical post; anarticulating mount secured to the top of the vertical post; and a hollowsupport arm, one end of the hollow support arm being pivotally connectedto a pivot inside the articulating mount; wherein the articulating mountincludes: a housing; an adjustment piece inside the housing; a threadedcaptive adjustment screw that is attached to the housing by way of anadjustment pin and to the adjustment piece by its external threading; athreaded rod in the hollow support arm, one end of the threaded rodbeing connected to the adjustment piece via rotation links; and acompression spring on the threaded rod, a first end of the compressionspring being held by a nut on the threaded rod.
 7. The load supportsystem recited in claim 6, wherein the hollow support arm has anindentation on the inner surface thereof and a second end of thecompression spring rests against a spring washer held in place by theindentation.
 8. The load support system as recited in claim 7, whereinthe indentation extends over only a part of the circumference of theinner surface.
 9. The load support system as recited in claim 6, furthercomprising a substantially flat oblong shaped bushing.
 10. The loadsupport system as recited in claim 6, wherein said hollow support armhas a square rectangular, oblong or elliptical cross-section.
 11. Theload support system as recited in claim 6, wherein said base member hasa sunken central portion, at least a part of said sunken central pointbeing lower than said plurality of wheels.
 12. A load support system,comprising: a wall or ceiling mount; a first extension arm attached tosaid wall or ceiling mount; an articulating mount secured to theextension arm; and a hollow support arm, one end of the hollow supportarm being pivotally connected to a pivot inside the articulating mount;wherein the articulating mount includes: a housing; an adjustment pieceinside the housing; a threaded captive adjustment screw that is attachedto the housing by way of an adjustment pin and to the adjustment pieceby its external threading; a threaded rod in the hollow support arm, oneend of the threaded rod being connected to the adjustment piece viarotation links; and a compression spring on the threaded rod, a firstend of the compression spring being held by a nut on the threaded rod.13. The load support system recited in claim 12, wherein the hollowsupport arm has an indentation on the inner surface thereof and a secondend of the compression spring rests against a spring washer held inplace by the indentation.
 14. The load support system as recited inclaim 13, wherein the indentation extends over only a part of thecircumference of the inner surface.
 15. The load support system asrecited in claim 12, further comprising a substantially flat oblongshaped bushing.
 16. The load support system as recited in claim 12,wherein said hollow support arm has a square rectangular, oblong orelliptical cross-section.